Writing Poetry and Writing About Poetry

Thoughts on Poetry

    When considering which to do first, I would definitely choose to write about poetry before endeavoring to write a poem myself. Dissecting a text comes second nature at this point (some may say I could do it in my sleep) so I will happily tear apart a poem and write about what it conveys before I choose to take those musings and write my own poem. I suppose one would need to know how to do one to fully understand the other. If I can dissect a poem, then perhaps I can turn around and write one using that newfound knowledge. If I can write a poem, then I can explicate it till I’m blue in the face to explain my choices. A positive to writing about poetry before writing poetry is that I can try to emulate what others have done before me in my poetry. If that slant rhyme worked for them, then surely it will work for me. Then, if the slant rhyme worked in my poetry, I can explain why it was so effective. It’s all very circular in nature.

Poetry in the Class

    Because of this reciprocity, teaching how to write ab
out poetry in order to have students write a poem can be very valuable in the class, and vice versa. The knowledge gained from one can be utilized in the other. In a lesson about sonnets, they can choose a model to follow from the endless sonnets created by Shakespeare, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, and the rest. They can explicate that particular sonnet and then try to write one in that same style. These models can serve students well once they notice patterns in style and form this can inform their own writings. One way to approach it could be to have them try to write a poem before they deeply engage with one themselves, then, have them explicate a poem, and finally have them write another poem with far more knowledge of how to improve their initial attempt. This way they can see growth in their writing.

Check Out Some of My Poetry 

Haiku一一一一一一一一一一一一一一一一一一一

 The English Teacher 

        An English teacher

“Well, you speak it really well.”

    My brown skin exposed

Ghazal一一一一一一一一一一一一一一一一一一一

Oh, Despair 

I fervently look for a way out of the heavy air.

My time seems to run out quicker there.

I look towards the future before me as a teacher.

He eyes my aspirations in a tone so sincere.

“You speak English really well and you don’t have an accent to share,”

I listen to his comment and find no reply in my despair.

I chuckle alongside him as I looked at the groundskeeper shelter from the glare

Of the hot sun beating on him as he worked the flowerbed with great care.

I continued my patrol of the private high school thinking of his skin so fair.

What was it about you that made him think to say this about Javier?

List Poem一一一一一一一一一一一一一一一一一一

The Hunger 

I give the good news
It digests in his little mind
It is regurgitated with a sucker punch for dessert
My brown skin burns in the sun
The flowers are so well-tended
He turns away and I go my way
The smile on his face falls into shadow

I am left to wonder, hungry for an answer

Wrecking the First Person一一一一一一一一一一一

We

Get your shit together, I tell myself.
I was walking down Hollywood Blvd
The death I experience in a car accident
I was walking down the beach at night
The movie I acted in
I fall from a tree
The slime I ooze
The Grammy goes to! Me, you, him, I
I fall from a hammock
The dinosaur I am riding
I am stuck in a barrel
The world I saved was Venus
I watch a dumpster burn
The death ray I created in awe
 I perform “The Jungle Book”
Mourn the death of Selena, not of you, he, she,          it’s me